Page 1 of Watchland by Franck Muller

watchland a dream come true w when i think of a traditional watch manufacture i envision a beautiful swiss chalet in a small village watchmakers toiling away at antique wooden tables a workshop with beautiful views of lakes and snow-capped mountains in the distance instead i often find modern glass and concrete highly industrialized work areas hermetic clean rooms and so on so i was surprised when i arrived at franck muller s watchland in the small village of genthod switzerland to find my fantasy of a watch manufacture realized the beautiful main house looks almost like a castle it is the heart of the sprawling development known as watchland and the headquarters of the franck muller brand immaculate park-like grounds surround the house and the landscape beyond the property encompasses lake geneva with the peak of mont blanc and the alps beyond as soon as i had taken it all in another fantasy entered my mind that of leaving journalism and becoming a watchmaker here franck muller along with co-founder and ceo vartan sirmakes began developing watchland in the 1990s after the administrative offices and workshops of the franck muller brand moved into the early-twentieth-century manor house that is now the central building even the newer buildings on the grounds are beautifully constructed and immaculately finished giving the impression that they have stood here for a hundred years sirmakes explains this is what the watch consumer has in his mind before i came to the watch industry i envisioned this as well it s a insync vartan sirmakes and franck muller beautiful place for our employees perfect for watchmaking our business the art of watchmaking is concerned with beauty and it should have a beautiful environment it is an environment that continues to grow watchland s recent acquisition of an adjacent 250-year-old 30-acre estate gives it a total of 72 acres approximately 130,000 square meters and the luxury of space to expand since the birth of watchland the franck muller company has also grown it now comprises the brands pierre kunz european company watch rodolphe and paris-based alexis barthelay inside the workshops the smoothness with which operations proceed is even more impressive than the idyllic setting from the views at the open windows to the machinery everything is april 2007 146

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